Terry College of Business - Fall 2008 - (Page 10) quickbites appointments Mason is new department head and MMR director in Marketing Charlotte H. Mason joined the terry college this summer as the new head of the marketing Department. She also serves as director of the master of marketing research program, an internationally recognized graduate program administered by the college’s coca-cola center MASON for marketing Studies. mason, an authority on development and estimation of marketing models, has been on the marketing faculty at the University of north carolina since she earned her doctorate from Stanford University in 1985. She succeeds marketing professor Rich J. Fox, who was the interim head. U.S. News ranks undergrad program in top 30 for 10th consecutive year erry’s undergraduate program is ranked 30th overall and 18th among public business schools, according to the 2009 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of the “Best Business Programs.” This year’s ranking marks the 10th consecutive year Terry has been ranked in the top 30. Of the more than 2,000 U.S. business schools, fewer than 500 have achieved full accreditation and are eligible to be ranked by U.S. News. Among the dozen “business specialties” ranked this year by U.S. News, Terry appears in four of them. • Risk Management and Insurance maintained its No. 2 ranking nationally. • Real Estate repeated its No. 3 ranking from last year. • Management Information Systems broke into the top 10 and is now ranked No. 9 in the country — a rapid rise of seven spots in the past two years. • J.M. Tull School of Accounting is ranked No. 18. “This is another affirmation of the high quality of the undergraduate program and the Terry College overall,” says Dean Robert Sumichrast. “It’s now time for Terry to expand from these areas of strengths, like risk management and real estate, and advance across an even broader front of program improvement. When we adopt our new strategic plan later this year, we’ll be in a better position to pursue our vision of national prominence.” The magazine’s business school ranking is based wholly on a peer survey. U.S. News surveyed deans and senior faculty at each undergraduate business program accredited by AACSBInternational. They were asked to rate the quality of all programs they are familiar with on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished); 38 percent of those surveyed responded. ■ — David Dodson (ABJ ’89) T Christopher M. Cornwell has been promoted to head the economics Department. He joined the terry college in 1988 as an assistant professor. Since 2004, cornwell has been director of the leonard leadership Scholars Program in CORNWELL terry’s institute for leadership advancement. He will step away from that role to serve as department head. cornwell succeeds William D. Lastrapes, who stepped down june 30 after six years as department head to return to the faculty full-time. Cornwell heads Econ Department Accounting team reaches finals of national KPMG competition Competing against 26 of the top accounting schools in the country, a team of terry accounting majors made it all the way to the five-team finals of the kPmG national audit case competition in new york city in april. the competition consisted of student teams being asked to complete a series of audit tasks and use a Web-based application to simulate a series of interactions with a kPmG audit client. this year’s case involved a retailer of manufactured homes. teams selected as finalists traveled to new york to present their audit findings and answer questions posed by a panel of judges that included academics, audit committee members, and kPmG partners. chosen by the accounting faculty and advised by professor michael Bamber, the terry team included ryan Friday, lauren Pavia, katie morris, and Suraj amarnani, who recently accepted a job with kPmG and will join the firm following his graduation this spring. Other accounting teams reaching the final round were Bentley college, Uc-Santa Barbara, illinois, and virginia. Uva, which won the competition, and UGa Terry’s kPMG National Audit Case team consistwere the only institutions to repeat as finalists from ed of (from left) Suraj Amarnani, katie Morris, Lauren Pavia, and Ryan Friday. last year’s competition. “my presentation and public speaking skills benefited enormously,” says Friday of the competitive experience. “Since we were strictly prohibited from seeking outside help, Suraj took on the role of mentor and filled it superbly.” amarnani found the realism of the competition good preparation for the full-time position he’ll assume with kPmG. “Presenting to an audit committee especially made me feel more confident about this aspect of the job,” he says. Friday says the competition encouraged him about the career path he’s chosen. “it really has gotten me excited for my future accounting studies at UGa and hopefully a career in the field. i believe i’ll look back on my undergraduate years and see this competition as a defining experience.” ■ — Matt Waldman (AB ’96) Terry College oF Director of diversity appointed Randy Groomes (BBA ’92) is terry’s new director of diversity relations and recruitment. Groomes had served in a similar capacity as director of multicultural programs for the UGa alumni association since 2005. He also served on the alumni association’s board of directors and its GROOMES executive committee prior to assuming his staff position. He succeeds accounting professor Mark C. Dawkins, who served as the founding director of the college’s diversity relations initiative before being appointed associate dean for academic programs last spring. Groomes will coordinate efforts to recruit and retain diverse faculty, staff, and students. ■ 10 • Fall 2008 Business SPecial
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.